


Merry Christmas

by marvel_fanfictions



Series: Calendar Themes [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cemetery, Christmas fic, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, Natasha Is a Good Bro, No-one should be alone on chrismtas, One Shot, Sad character, They're just friends, sad fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:40:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22561888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvel_fanfictions/pseuds/marvel_fanfictions
Summary: No one should be alone on Christmas. Even if its just friends, friends are family too, right?Sorry its late, but I wrote this in August and wanted to post this on Christmas and forgot I even wrote it. Whoops.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov
Series: Calendar Themes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1638709
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Merry Christmas

His body has long gone stiff from the cold, having knelt there for what seemed like hours already. A fine layer of snow had built up on his shoulders, but the soldier sat there, unmoving. His breath was the only indicator that he was still alive, small puffs of smoky air billowing around and fading away as quickly as they had come. 

Red rimmed and swollen eyes were fixed on the ground, where a single candle lay, barely alight in the breeze and only sheltered by the man there. Under the candle, a short name carved in a small slab of stone was illuminated by the shifting shadows of the candles light.

Steve sat unmoving from where he knelt, his arms crossed and holding his shivering body. His nose was bright pink from the cold. He knew if she were here she would reprimand him for exposing himself to the elements, lest he wish to catch a cold. He didn’t look up even as a bell started to ring, and he counted the chimes once the festive tune they were programmed to play had finished. One, two, three, and so on until he reached eleven. He hadn’t realized it was eleven already.

Despite the super soldiers enhanced hearing, he failed to hear the crunch of footsteps through the snow behind him until it was almost too late.

A light hand rested on his shoulder before a lithe figure knelt down beside him. The soldier looked down and saw the smallest flash of red in the dim lighting provided by the candle and a far away lamp post through the snowfall.

Natasha studied the head stone for a moment.

Steve didn’t say anything to Natasha, but she always knew what was going through his head. She simply held out a hand for him, which he finally agreed to a moment later. His hands were cold as ice, but she didn’t comment on it. She simply held his hand and sat there, waiting. She knew that sometimes just being there for Steve in these moments was more than enough.

There were a dozen chimes an hour later and Steve parted his chapped lips to speak. The words were barely over a whisper, Natasha was sure she would not have heard it if it wasn’t so silent in the graveyard and she hadn’t read his lips. His voice cracked and she saw tears well up in his eyes, though she was sure this wasn’t the first time he had cried tonight.

“Merry Christmas, ma.”

Natasha just gave his hand a small squeeze and waited with him a moment longer. She knew how hard it was for him sometimes. Steve had never had many people in his life that supported him, and, especially with how close she could tell that he had been to his mother, she would be surprised if he hadn’t come out here at some point or another. 

After a few more minutes, Natasha finally tugged on his hand. She was a bit surprised that Steve didn’t resist and actually followed her as she stood up. He wobbled barely, legs sore and numb from kneeling on the hard frozen ground and back aching from hunching over in the cold. The candle blew out quickly after he stood, and he had a brief limp as he stepped away from the headstone. He ignored the snow that slipped passed his collar and down his back, pushing back the memories it brought with it and turned to follow Natasha out of the grave yard.

The snow muffled their footsteps as they passed through the gates, the lone lamp post guiding their way down the street to Natashas car. The engine was turned and the two slowly thawed out on their drive back to Steves’ apartment.

When Natasha pulled up to Steves’ apartment, she did not stop by the curb outside the building, but instead went and parked in the stall next to his bike. Steve offered her a perplexed look, and she raised an eyebrow in competition.

“I am not driving all the way back home in this weather.” She shrugged and unbuckled her seatbelt before getting out of the car.

“Fair enough.” Was all Steve could think of to reply with as he reluctantly left the warm car and dug his keys out of his pocket. He let them inside the building and they traveled up to his apartment. He let her in first and shut the door behind him before taking off his boots and hanging up his coat.

Natasha had done the same and headed to the kitchen to make them each a mug of hot chocolate to warm up. Steve went to the bedroom and grabbed a spare blanket and pillow and set them on the end of the couch.

“Er… I don’t think I have any pajamas that will fit you, but I can at least get you a sleep shirt? And you can take the bed if you like, it’s more comfortable than the couch,” He explained.

“I know you have a queen bed at least, Steve. You don’t have to sleep on the couch, either. Besides, it is freezing,” She challenged him as she poured them each a mug of cocoa.

Steve opened his mouth to argue again and she just gave him a look that said, “You won’t win this one.”

If there was anyone who could compete against Steve’s stubbornness, it was Natasha. Steve’s resolve finally gave in and sat down at the breakfast bar to drink his cocoa.

“Thank you, Nat.” He said softly after a moment. He studied his cocoa, which wasn’t too hot to drink but enough to warm him up and chase away the sad thoughts and bad memories, and poked at a mini marshmallow that he didn’t even know he had.

Natasha sat next to him and set a hand over his, warm against his still chilled skin.

“You don’t need to thank me. I didn’t want you to be alone,” she replied softly.

The two drank their cocoa before they cleaned up. Steve picked up the blanket and pillow and went to his room to grab a shirt for Natasha and dug around for a pair of sweatpants that had a drawstring so they would fit her. He finally found a pair and offered them to her.

While she took them into the bathroom to change, he quickly tidied up a bit and changed himself into a pair of flannels and a loose fitting tee. He plugged in his phone for the night before laying on his usual side of the bed.

Natasha knocked on the door a moment later and waited for him to say if he was decent before letting herself in. she was practically swimming in his shirt and he noticed in the dim lighting that she hadn’t even bothered with the pants; they must have not fit well enough even with the drawstring.

Steve tried not to blush and averted his eyes barely while she crawled under the covers. As if she could sense the blush, she smirked. 

“Well don’t get all hot and bothered. S’not like we’re doing anything that scandalous,” She said. Steve simply scoffed in reply and looked up at her.

“It isn’t very often I get anyone in bed,” he blurted out, not realizing how it sounded at first.

Natashas mirthy expression dampened and she reached over for his hand.

“Hey, nothing wrong with that. Lets just get some sleep, okay?” She said softly after a beat of contemplation. She moved closer, as if offering her comfort if he needed and settled down.

Steve tried to relax, and ignore the gnawing in his stomach. Even if she was right there, he couldn’t get rid of the lonely feeling in his gut. He rolled over and studied her for a moment before hesitantly reaching for her.

He slowly rested his hand on her side, as if testing the waters to see if she was uncomfortable. She simply looked at him through the dark and rolled on her side to face away from him, but caught his hand as he started to pull away and wrapped it around her stomach. Steve moved closer so he could hold her against him, her back against his chest and he closed his eyes.  
The knot of loneliness started to undo itself as he held her and as he took a few slow breaths, he finally started to fall asleep. “Merry Christmas, Nat,” He mumbled before he fell asleep.

“Merry Christmas,” Natasha replied softly as she held his hand and relaxed, falling asleep soon after.

**Author's Note:**

> I would love all criticism and feedback!


End file.
